Hope Skinner, founder Nanny Shecando

Celebrating & Giving Thanks

Our version of Thanksgiving.

We celebrated a big birthday for Boss Mum yesterday.

Yesterday was also The Twins’ last day of a giant end of year project, meaning they were allowed to hand it in and leave school early! And it was also the day that Miss Charlie had been waiting impatiently for; the day she got to perform the Nativity Play on the big stage to a live audience. Friday was a long-awaited special day!

The girls (minus Miss Charlie who was at school preparing for the play) celebrated Boss Mum’s birthday in style.

Birthday Breakfast Time

Breakfast Bubbles

The Birthday Card

Presents

Boss Mum’s Birthday Gift Voucher

Hair, Nails & Beauty Pampering

The Dressage Themed Birthday Cake

Little Viv Giggling At The Happy Birthday Song

Santa Visiting At Miss Charlie's Nativity Play

Santa Paying A Surprise Visit To The Girls At The Nativity Play

It was a happy family day and a rare moment that saw the large, busy family come together to be as one.

Giving thanks to Boss Mum, the glue in the family.

Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.

Why Are Horses Different To Cars?

The other day Miss Charlie and I were chatting together on the way home from school, as we do on most occasions. She asks me the “why” questions and I stumble and trip all over myself trying to answer them both accurately and truthfully. It’s always a balance between making sure to answer the questions properly and to satisfy her inquisition, without dumbing it down or ruining the childlike innocence present in her assumptions. Talk about walking a fine line!

On this particular occasion, she wanted to know about cars. And horses.

Based on the direction of this conversation, I presume they must have been learning about cars and other motor vehicles at school that day. I’m presuming this, but to be honest it could have been a totally unrelated-pulled-out-of-thin-air question, because hey, she does that.

“Why are horses different to cars? Why do we have cars now and not horses?

Wouldn’t it be better to ride horses, then we’d get some exercise too instead of just sitting in a car.

Horses can go pretty fast, you know.

So why were cars invented?”

Not exactly my area of expertise Miss Charlie, but challenge accepted.

Source

As I waded through some pretty vague explanations, frantically searching my brain in the vain hope that I may have subconsciously retained any car related info that the BF had sprouted off before realising that it was going over my head, I realised a few very obvious factors.

Horses can’t cover you from the wet weather like cars can. Horses can’t go on and on for days without a rest like cars can. Cheeky little ponies dig their heels in and refuse to move whereas cars will go as soon as you hit the pedal. Hoses need food and water and cars just need petrol. (OK maybe they need oil and water too, but I always forget to check those things. Oops). Yes horses can gallop really fast, but cars are still faster. Although there may be some connection there, given that we talk about cars in terms of ‘horse-power’… Hey, I told you this wasn’t my area of expertise!

Source

Also, if cars break down or get a flat tire, we just take it to the mechanic, whereas if a horse is injured; well it’s a different outcome altogether.

I could see Charlie working this all out in her head, letting the ice cream drip down her fingers as she thought about what I was saying. Suddenly, there were alarm bells emanating from her temples as if speech bubbles. This could be good, or it could be bad. What did I just say that she needed to question?

“But why is it a different outcome for horses?

If they break their leg or hurt themselves really badly, you just take them to the vet!”

Well it’s not that easy sometimes. Horses are very big animals, we can’t just pick them up and put them in the car like we do with our cats and dogs. And there aren’t special horse vets on every corner like there are small animal vets. They have to be trucked off to large animal hospitals, and that can be very expensive and stressful on the horse.

“But still, why can’t they be fixed?”

Well, they can be fixed. But sometimes it’s too difficult to fix. Sometimes the horse is in too much pain and it’s nicer to put them to sleep. It’s very sad, but sometimes the best option.

“You mean you kill them??”

(I) don’t kill them, but the vet will sometimes have to make a very hard decision. My mummy is a special horse vet, and she hates having to put horses to sleep. She’s always very sad afterwards, but she understands that it’s for the best.

“But she’s a vet! She’s supposed to help animals, not hurt them!

She does help them, she looks after lots of horses everyday. But on very sad days, days when a horse is in too much pain and has hurt themselves really badly, she has to help them by letting them go to sleep. Because it’s not very nice to keep an animal in pain, just because you want them to stay with you. In a way, mummy is protecting them from even more badness.

“Yeah. OK. It’s still sad. But I understand.

Man, I’m so glad we can just put Beansie (dog) and Crooksy (cat) in the car and take them to the vet!

That’s why I want to be an animal rescue person, to help them and protect them from the hunters and the badness.”

…Phew, that was a dicey conversation. I didn’t think it was possible to stumble over my feet so much, and I don’t even have four hooves getting in the way!

Learning At Its Best: A Classroom Of Magic

where the MAGIC happens

I was lucky enough to have a tour of Miss Charlie’s classroom recently. Given my interest in all things children, education and teaching it was like getting a private and personalized tour of Disney World. Only better!

Her class and the rest of the junior school (kindergarten and year’s 1 & 2) share newly renovated and connected federation houses in one part of the campus. Here they have their own tennis courts, play grounds, rooftop gardens, junior library and even a secret corridor connecting to the main gym and swimming pools. From there it leads on to the rest of the school. I happen to think it’s rather impressive, but I may be biased!

What really amazed me, and made me want to never leave (I’m not joking, I might have to apply for a teaching job there ASAP), was the open planned piazza that connects the junior school classrooms. This open space is where the magic happens. And I assure you, magic (and learning) really does happen in these special places.

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THE FRIENDSHIP FAIRY TREE

A large stick tree with many off-shoots and spindly branches, a green carpet below and a photo of each student hanging from the branches. Friendship and freedom of speech is fostered in this area, especially conflict resolution. The rules being that the youngest student has the (carpet) first to express themselves and each must listen openly to the other. Kindness and love are the purest of heart.

Arabian Nights

A magic carpet furnished with plush beaded cushions and middle eastern style blankets. This is a place for imagination to prosper. Anything is possible when dreamed, imagined or conjured whilst on the magic carpet.

The Young Inventors

A creativity corner filled with arts & crafts and DIY. Using an old projector, the walls display recent artwork, odd shapes and different colours over a cloth backdrop. Anything that can be thought, can be made in this workshop.

The Power of Words

A quiet enclave with cushions and small tables surrounded by walls of books. The space is open for quiet time, rest and relaxation, more reading lessons and to get one-on-one help. No one is alone on their journey, although each person’s journey is unique.

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The Nature Reserve

A sprawling garden of planter boxes and trellises growing herbs, flowers, vegetables. There’s a worm farm and a protected caterpillar area. Students take turns to tend the garden and have science lessons in the reserve. Preservation of resources, sustainability and action & consequence are taught here. Everyone is accountable.

Drama Panorama

A wide open space used for plays, student presentations of their self-written stories and to recreate scenarios. Posters on the wall show the components of a story, techniques to acting and literary devices. Freedom to be yourself.

Time Through The Hour glass

The History Center is a separate little room featuring real life-size dinosaur models, historical artefacts, history books, collections of old money and a slide show on repeat featuring a presentation of ‘how Australia came to be’. History shapes the future.

Leavin’ On A Jet Plane

The Travel Center is a little room decorated with flags of the world, maps of the continents and countries, info posters on America, England, China and New Zealand, a foreign money exchange and signs with different time zones and travel distances between Sydney, Australia and far away places. Multiculturalism and diversity of languages are well and thriving.

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As a self-confessed Peter Pan, the facilities on offer to give exceptional learning experiences simply blew me away. It was amazing and I wished that I could have learnt like this when I was at school. Given all that is on offer it’s no surprise that Miss Charlie is fortunate enough and lucky enough to be attending a very select private school. However, discounting the strict school uniform policy and a relatively structured school day (and the school fees!) you couldn’t be blamed for thinking it was instead a Steiner or Montessori school.

Whatever the label, it sure is special! From my observations and interactions at the school and with Miss (smarty-pants) Charlie herself, it’s no wonder she’s so switched on and is constantly challenging the limitations of current norms. It’s also no surprise that she simply stuns me with her never-ending ‘why’ questions!

The Gift of Giving & (That) GoldieBlox Ad

‘Girls Toys’ vs ‘Boys Toys’

Purchased: A trolley load of Christmas presents.

‘OK, I’m going to stop you all right there, because I think I know that you’re thinking’..

It’s only November!
An (entire) shopping trolley load? That’s a bit excessive don’t you think, materialistic much?!
Who cares? Why are you telling us this?

Well, valid points. So to explain,

the presents weren’t for me, nor for the tribe of kids I have hanging off me everyday.

They were instead bought to be given to a charity. Miss Charlie’s school has a sister school, a less fortunate school overseas, who they sponsor and support. Her school sends over old library books, previous edition text books, school uniforms, stationary, sporting equipment and a bunch of other stuff. They also suggest that the school community get involved with extra fundraisers and give what they can.

Miss Charlie, being the full-of-ideas and generous-of-heart ~~little~~ big girl who I’ve come to admire, has decided that this Christmas she wants to give the kids of her sister school presents. She wants them to be happy and thankful and lucky just like she is and seeing as she’s in Year 1 at an all girls school, she has decided that the presents should be for girls around the same age as her. ‘Sorry boys, I guess you’re either still on the naughty list or you’ve still got cooties’.

Great idea we thought, so I went out and loaded up with a fairly major selection of toys, games, craft sets, pens & pencils, books and more. That afternoon when she came home from school, Miss C went straight to the dining table, now heavily laden with shopping bags. I had thought I may run into issues at this point, now that the toys were there for all to see and for the temptation to be ignited. Because it was all very good for her to suggest such a charitable idea, but would it still be so easy to support when faced with shiny, brand new toys and the promise of hours of fun. ‘It appears however that I had underestimated her, yet again.’ She proceeded to inspect each item, giving a running commentary of its uses and appropriateness. She was filled with genuine excitement knowing that other girls her age would soon be giggling and smiling as they played skip rope or charades or crafts.

We sent them off and happy days.

However, my little shopping experience had re-highlighted an issue that has been on my mind for some time now (and it seems on most other people’s minds after the seriously impressive advert from GoldieBlox went crazy on social media this past week). The idea behind it being to fuel the minds of our young girls, to provide them with toys and creative opportunity that goes beyond the cliché of dolls and Barbies, ‘to disrupt the pink aisle and inspire the future generation of female engineers‘. For anyone who hasn’t seen it, you can watch it here.

Because, as I perused the aisles selecting gifts, I saw first hand just how selective the market for ‘girls toys’ really is.

I thought, just because my criteria (girls, aged 3-6 years-old) was set, did that mean I couldn’t buy the shiny hot wheels car, or a football, or the magicians set that had a picture of a grinning boy on the front?

Why did I have to limit my options to pink and purple?

Why did I have to stick to the glitter and beads, colouring pencils and secret diaries?

Why could I not choose the DIY Garden Set or the Real-Life-Telescope?

And why must they have pictures of boys on the packaging?

It was made personal when I saw the SuperSoaker Water Gun marketed as “the ultimate boys warfare”… – Pretty sure I spent hours challenging my brother with these growing up (and still do!) and ‘hey, I love my pretty skirts and makeup just as much as the next girl!’

The same goes for Miss Charlie, she’s no-little-princess-with-pretty-pink-bows-in-her-hair. She’s got a firing curiosity for all things science, DIY, animal related, creative, inventive and imaginative. Anything that holds the possibility of a “Why Question” is hers for the taking. And take it she will. Yet, despite this, she’ll also quite ferociously beg me for anything pink, sparkly and/or sticker related if given half the chance.

So, where does Miss Charlie fit in this demographic of carefully marketed toys?

I’m still unsure of this answer, because within the realms of the children’s toy market, I don’t like the answer implied. Luckily for me, I already found her Christmas present months ago. I took the chance when I happened across the perfect gift, knowing full well that I’d be left with little choice amongst the pink aisles when Christmas approached. What’s rather telling, and rather worrying, is that I had to take this necessary action. And so I’m left with these questions,

Why have we happily allowed it to become so black and white?

What is a ‘boys toy’? And who says girls can’t play with it?

Why do we let the powers of marketing sway our purchase choices?

More so, why do we give them the power to decide what our kids should play with?

And, why is (anyone) dictating what our kids should play with? Shouldn’t they decide? They are after all, the ones who will be playing with them!